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Staff Writer

In the time-honoured tradition of Marvel and DC, what do you do when a once popular thread has shrunk in activity? You relaunch it with a new #1! This is a brand new day for the Review Group, a new order of picks will be created, but since it was my choice anyway this week, I chose a Bendis book! AVENGERS #19 is what we'll be reviewing, and it's a good thematic choice really, because not only is the Review Group starting anew, this issue features the new Avengers line-up being formed.

Avengers #19as selected by Punchy

Jude Terror has next week's pick and he's gone for Fantastic Four #600!

Comics are to be scored on a scale from 1-10. 1 being suck, 10 being a damn good comic. Beyond that, there's no right or wrong, unless you disagree with me

You will be put on the list in the order you post your review for Avengers #19, so if you're itching to pick a book in the next few weeks... get your review in early!

Eventually, I will put together all of our reviews and we will have our very own article on the front page of The Outhouse! If you would like for your review to be included, please try to have it posted by the end of day on Tuesday.

Staff Writer

In the time-honoured tradition of Marvel and DC, what do you do when a once popular thread has shrunk in activity? You relaunch it with a new #1! This is a brand new day for the Review Group, a new order of picks will be created, but since it was my choice anyway this week, I chose a Bendis book! AVENGERS #19 is what we'll be reviewing, and it's a good thematic choice really, because not only is the Review Group starting anew, this issue features the new Avengers line-up being formed.

Avengers #19as selected by Punchy

Jude Terror has next week's pick and he's gone for Fantastic Four #600!

Comics are to be scored on a scale from 1-10. 1 being suck, 10 being a damn good comic. Beyond that, there's no right or wrong, unless you disagree with me

You will be put on the list in the order you post your review for Avengers #19, so if you're itching to pick a book in the next few weeks... get your review in early!

Eventually, I will put together all of our reviews and we will have our very own article on the front page of The Outhouse! If you would like for your review to be included, please try to have it posted by the end of day on Tuesday.

Last edited by Punchy on Wed Nov 23, 2011 1:29 pm, edited 5 times in total.

OMCTO

Well, this coincides perfectly with the delivery of my Kindle Fire, and thus my reentry into reading comics.

Avengers #19 Review by Jude Terror

It's been a while since I've read a comic. Since just before Fear Itself, started, actually, so the first thing I noticed here is that John Romita Jr. is no longer doing the art. Thank god for that. JRJR's art was the worst thing about Avengers before. It was borderline unreadable because of it, despite the genius of The Great One's writing.

I'm glad I started back on Avengers with this issue, as it appears to be a transition issue and a one-off, as Captain America is putting together a new team of Avengers in the wake of Fear Itself. Lots of story beats are revealed nicely here - Norman Osborn has escaped from prison, Bucky and Thor are no longer on the team, a new team is being put together for what is apparently a needed public image improvement, Tony and Steve are getting along well, and Spider-Man and Wolverine are off the team. Some are revealed a little more clumsily though, like the fact that Tony's been working on rebuilding the vision, and has apparently succeeded. I don't know if this was alluded to in previous comics, but judging by the sheer volume of clumsy explanation, I have to assume not.

The story itself was very good for a jumping on point issue. It covered a lot of ground, explained the status quo, defined some of the main characters (Clint, Tony, and Steve were all introduced to readers and their defining traits were on display), and ended on a cliffhanger (Norman Osborn is not only free, but he's going public!). There were some drawbacks. The Great One's dialog, much parodied, works well most of the time to make characters seem like real people, but at times (like when Storm uses it), it can be jarring. I will say though that Bendis does a great job here of making a lapsed reader feel comfortable (by contrast, it took me four issues of Prelude to Schism and two of Schism before I felt comfortable with the X-Men again last night), pulling me right into their story with just the right balance of questions about what I missed without confusion over continuity.

OMCTO

Well, this coincides perfectly with the delivery of my Kindle Fire, and thus my reentry into reading comics.

Avengers #19 Review by Jude Terror

It's been a while since I've read a comic. Since just before Fear Itself, started, actually, so the first thing I noticed here is that John Romita Jr. is no longer doing the art. Thank god for that. JRJR's art was the worst thing about Avengers before. It was borderline unreadable because of it, despite the genius of The Great One's writing.

I'm glad I started back on Avengers with this issue, as it appears to be a transition issue and a one-off, as Captain America is putting together a new team of Avengers in the wake of Fear Itself. Lots of story beats are revealed nicely here - Norman Osborn has escaped from prison, Bucky and Thor are no longer on the team, a new team is being put together for what is apparently a needed public image improvement, Tony and Steve are getting along well, and Spider-Man and Wolverine are off the team. Some are revealed a little more clumsily though, like the fact that Tony's been working on rebuilding the vision, and has apparently succeeded. I don't know if this was alluded to in previous comics, but judging by the sheer volume of clumsy explanation, I have to assume not.

The story itself was very good for a jumping on point issue. It covered a lot of ground, explained the status quo, defined some of the main characters (Clint, Tony, and Steve were all introduced to readers and their defining traits were on display), and ended on a cliffhanger (Norman Osborn is not only free, but he's going public!). There were some drawbacks. The Great One's dialog, much parodied, works well most of the time to make characters seem like real people, but at times (like when Storm uses it), it can be jarring. I will say though that Bendis does a great job here of making a lapsed reader feel comfortable (by contrast, it took me four issues of Prelude to Schism and two of Schism before I felt comfortable with the X-Men again last night), pulling me right into their story with just the right balance of questions about what I missed without confusion over continuity.

I'm totally pulling a coup in '13 after the sucky holiday weeks are over and returning us to the proper numbering.

If this is up late then I assume you have read Avengers and have a review ready to post right now?

******

by ****** » Wed Nov 16, 2011 2:31 pm

Punchy wrote:If this is up late then I assume you have read Avengers and have a review ready to post right now?

Had it been up at a decent hour, it would have reminded me to stop at a shop while I was out to lunch and I could be posting a review right now instead of plotting the Group's glorious return to it's original numbering in January.

******

Punchy wrote:If this is up late then I assume you have read Avengers and have a review ready to post right now?

Had it been up at a decent hour, it would have reminded me to stop at a shop while I was out to lunch and I could be posting a review right now instead of plotting the Group's glorious return to it's original numbering in January.

Staff Writer

John Snow wrote:Had it been up at a decent hour, it would have reminded me to stop at a shop while I was out to lunch and I could be posting a review right now instead of plotting the Group's glorious return to it's original numbering in January.

Staff Writer

John Snow wrote:Had it been up at a decent hour, it would have reminded me to stop at a shop while I was out to lunch and I could be posting a review right now instead of plotting the Group's glorious return to it's original numbering in January.